Explanatory Essay

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Prewriting for Comparison-Contrast Essays

Instead of just leaping into writing, you should spend some time choosing a topic, gathering information, and organizing your thoughts. That's prewriting. This lesson will help you select a topic and gather details for a comparison-contrast essay.

Prewriting to Select a Topic

Explore writing topics.

Write two different people, places, things, and ideas that interest you and that you think would be interesting to compare and contrast. Circle the two subjects you like best.

People	Places	Things	Ideas

People
Places
Things
Ideas

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Reading a Comparison-Contrast Paragraph and Essay

This lesson lets you discover how another student analyzed two topics in a comparison-contrast paragraph and essay.

Reading a Comparison-Contrast Paragraph

A comparison-contrast paragraph has three main parts. The topic sentence introduces two subjects and says something about them. The body sentences give details about how the two subjects are alike and different. The ending sentence sums up how the subjects are the same or different.

Sample Paragraph

BMX Bikes Versus Mountain Bikes

Topic Sentence

BMX bikes and mountain bikes are built in different ways. BMX bikes are great for tricks because they have a low, light frame and short tires. Mountain bikes have a high, heavy frame and thick tires. Body Sentences This makes them great for off-road riding on bumpy surfaces. Another way the two types of bikes differ is the number of gears. Mountain bikes have many different gears, but BMX bikes normally have just one gear. The number of gears relates to the main difference between the two bikes. Ending Sentence BMX bikes are built in a way that lets riders do tricks, while mountain bikes are built for off-road riding, including up and down hills.

Respond to the paragraph.

Answer the following questions about the reading.

Does the reading mostly focus on the way the two bikes are the same or different?
Name three ways the bikes differ.

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Warm-Up for Comparison-Contrast Essays

Explanatory essays share information about a topic. One way to explain two topics that interest you is to write a comparison-contrast essay.

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Assessing with an Explanatory Rubric

Test graders will use a rubric to judge the quality of your writing for assessment. By using the following rubric to judge your own writing, you can become aware of what testers are looking for and can improve your scores in the future.

Assess with a rubric.

Use the following rubric to score an explanatory essay for assessment.

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Writing an Essay for Assessment

Some tests ask you to write an essay response to articles you have closely read. The following activity will help you practice.

Analyze an essay prompt.

Read the following prompt, answer the PAST questions, write a focus statement, and list details.

Read the writing prompt.

Imagine that your teacher has assigned you to write an explanatory essay about the lives of monarch butterflies. You will be using the sources in this unit. Focus your thinking about monarch butterflies and create an essay. Include details from the sources to support your ideas.

Answer the PAST questions.

Purpose?

Audience?

Subject?

Type?

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Writing On-Demand Essays

A writing assessment gives you a short time to write a response to a prompt.

You’ve read about the origin of pizza. What is your favorite food? How is it made? Why do you like it? Write an essay that names your favorite food, describes the ingredients, explains how it is made, and gives sensory details about it. Make your readers’ mouths water!

To do so, you should use a shortened form of the writing process:

Prewriting (5 Minutes)

Answer the PAST questions.

Purpose? Explain how it’s made

Audience? New person

Subject? A favorite food

Type? Essay

Write a focus statement.

Most Americans like tacos, but they haven’t had Mexican tacos.

List supporting details.

—Using cilantro, goat cheese, homemade white corn tortilla

—Making tortillas

—Cooking meat, cutting cilantro

—Putting taco together

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Analyzing Writing Prompts

Often tests contain writing prompts that you must respond to. Your first step is to understand the writing prompt. You can use the PAST questions:

Purpose? Why am I writing? (To explain? To demonstrate?)
Audience? Who will read my writing? (Tester? Classmates?)
Subject? What subject should I write about? (Games? Pizza?)
Type? What type of writing should I create? (Essay? Letter?)

Sample Writing Prompt

What animal sayings do you use? Think of three different sayings and what they mean. Think of how you might use them. Write an essay that explains what a saying is and names the three animal sayings you like most. Define each. Imagine you are explaining the sayings to someone who is learning English.

Answers to PAST Questions

Purpose?
To explain the meaning of the sayings and give examples
Audience?
A person who is learning English
Subject?
Animal sayings
Type?
Essay

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Editing and Publishing Essays

Editing Essays

After making big changes to improve your essay, you need to make little changes (editing) to correct any remaining errors. You'll look for problems with sentences, punctuation, capitalization, grammar, usage, and spelling. The following activities will help you edit and publish your writing.

Editing End Punctuation

Sentences end in a period, question mark, or exclamation point. These punctuation marks are like traffic signs because they signal that a sentence has come to a stop. Here are the rules for using these marks.

Use a period at the end of a statement.
Thirty-five third graders in the school answered two questions.
Use a question mark at the end of a question.
What is your favorite ocean mammal?
Use an exclamation point to show strong emotion.
They crack oysters open on rocks on their bellies!

Watch the video "Using End Punctuation"

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Punctuate sentences.

Add the correct end punctuation to each one of these sentences.

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Revising Essays

Once you draft your essay, take a break and come back to it to see it freshly. When you revise, you make sure your big ideas are separated into different paragraphs and enough details explain each idea. These activities will help you revise.

Revising to Find Paragraphs

If your writing goes on and on without paragraphs, it can be hard to read. When this happens, you need to separate the writing into paragraphs. Use this three-step process:

Label the first word with a paragraph sign (¶).
Name the main idea in the first paragraph.
Find the first sentence not about this idea and label it. Start a new paragraph.
Repeat steps 1-3 as you move through your essay.

Watch the video "Finding Paragraphs"

Hide video

Mark the paragraphs.

Carefully read this part of an essay. The first new paragraph is marked for you. Mark the next new paragraphs and repeat the three-step process.

We have had many great presidents. They have led our country when we were in wars or when people really needed help. Many third graders in Waller School picked Abraham Lincoln as the best president. ¶Twenty-four third graders in our school answered two questions. Who is the best president? Why? Mr. Hayes collected and posted the results. Fifteen students picked Abraham Lincoln as our best president. Twelve of these students picked him because he freed the slaves. Three students said he was a great leader during the Civil War. Six students picked George Washington as our best president. Five of these students picked Washington because he was our first president. One student thought he was great because he fought for our freedom. Three students picked President Obama. Two students said he is our first African-American president. One student said he helped our country get a better economy.

We have had many great presidents. They have led our country when we were in wars or when people really needed help. Many third graders in Waller School picked Abraham Lincoln as the best president. ¶Twenty-four third graders in our school answered two questions. Who is the best president? Why? Mr. Hayes collected and posted the results. ¶Fifteen students picked Abraham Lincoln as our best president. Twelve of these students picked him because he freed the slaves. Three students said he was a great leader during the Civil War. ¶Six students picked George Washington as our best president. Five of these students picked Washington because he was our first president. One student thought he was great because he fought for our freedom. ¶Three students picked President Obama. Two students said he is our first African-American president. One student said he helped our country get a better economy.

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Writing Essays

Once you finish prewriting, you are ready to present your poll results in writing. These activities will help you hook the reader's interest at the beginning, explain important information in the middle, and end with a strong final point. You'll also read another student's essay to see how all of the parts came together.

Writing the Beginning Paragraph

In the beginning paragraph, the first sentence is called the lead sentence. The lead should get the reader’s interest about the topic of the essay. The last sentence is the focus statement, which names the main idea of the essay. Any sentences in between give details about the topic.

Write a lead sentence.

Follow the directions below to write two different lead sentences. Then choose the one you like best for your essay.

Say something interesting about the topic.

Ocean mammals are big and small.
Ask a question about the topic.
What ocean mammal is your favorite?

Explanatory Essay